10 U.S. Code § 5508 - Rank of line and staff corps officers of the Navy and officers of the Marine Corps

Except for an officer entitled to a rank higher than his grade, line and staff corps officers of the Navy serving in the same grade and officers of the Marine Corps serving in the corresponding grade rank among themselves according to their respective dates of rank in grade whether or not they are on an active-duty list.

The word “rank” is substituted for the words “take precedence” throughout the section for uniformity of expression.

In subsection (a) the first sentence is broadened to include officers of the Marine Corps and officers not on a lineal list. Inclusion of the Marine Corps is possible because the sentence reflects the rule referred to by the Attorney General (25 Op. Atty. Gen. 517) as “an unwritten law of the Army and Navy” as to relative rank between officers in different services. Officers not on a lineal list may properly be included since the statement is consistent with the provisions for assigning lineal position to such officers when they become entitled to be placed on a list.

Amendments

1980—Pub. L. 96–513struck out designation “(a)” before “Except for an officer”, substituted “an active-duty list” for “a lineal list”, struck out sentence which had provided that a staff corps officer with the same date of rank as his running mate ranked above all line and staff corps officers junior to his running mate, and struck out subsec. (b) which had provided for a hierarchy of 9 categories of officers of the Navy to be used in ranking officers of the Navy on active duty serving in the same grade and having the same date of rank in that grade.